Indian writers guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent: Taslima Nasrin

[dray]

Indian writers guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent: Taslima Nasrin
TNN | Oct 17, 2015, 01.00 AM IST

File photo of Taslima Nasrin at her residece in Kolkata. (TOI photo: Sayantan Ghosh)

The number of writers who have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards is now almost 30. The government has called their protest a manufactured protest. Now noted Bangladeshi writer and exile Taslima Nasrin has also entered the fray. In an interview to TOI'sSagarika Ghose she asks why writers were silent when she was being persecuted.

What is your response to the fact that so many writers in India have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards?

Writers have decided to protest against injustices by returning their awards. There is nothing wrong with it. Sometimes somebody gets an idea, others like it.

Do you agree with the government that this is a manufactured protest with a political agenda?

I do not think so. Writers are politically and socially conscious people.

Do you feel the writers were silent when you were targeted?

Most writers were silent when my book was banned in West Bengal, when 5 fatwas were issued against me in India, when I was thrown out of West Bengal, when I was kept under house arrest in Delhi for months and was forced to leave India, when my mega serial for TV was banned. I have been struggling alone for the right to live here and for my freedom of expression. Not only they were silent, famous writers like Sunil Ganguly and Shankha Ghosh appealed to Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the then CM of West Bengal, to ban my book.

Are writers guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent?

Yes, I agree. Many writers are guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent.

Is intolerance rising in India —Dadri lynching for example?

Yes, I am afraid so.

You recently tweeted that there's a problem with the way secularism has been practised in India ...

Yes. Most secular people are pro-Muslims and anti-Hindu. They protest against the acts of Hindu fundamentalists and defend the heinous acts of Muslim fundamentalists.

Should writers return awards when they want to protest?

Come on, they are grown-up people. They should return awards if they want to. We cannot advise them.

Do you feel the Indian PM should speak more empathetically when it comes to Muslims and violence against minorities in India?

Politicians appease Muslims for votes in India. Muslims get so much favour that angers many Hindus. It is true that sometimes Muslims get tortured only because they are Muslims. But it happens to other religious community too. In Canning, a Hindu village in West Bengal, was burnt down by Muslim fanatics in 2013. If Muslims were brutally persecuted in India, they would have left India for neighbouring Muslim countries like Hindu minorities have been leaving Bangladesh and Pakistan since Partition.

Indian writers guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent: Taslima Nasrin - The Times of India

 

[SarthakGanguly]

Indian writers guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent: Taslima Nasrin
TNN | Oct 17, 2015, 01.00 AM IST

File photo of Taslima Nasrin at her residece in Kolkata. (TOI photo: Sayantan Ghosh)

The number of writers who have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards is now almost 30. The government has called their protest a manufactured protest. Now noted Bangladeshi writer and exile Taslima Nasrin has also entered the fray. In an interview to TOI'sSagarika Ghose she asks why writers were silent when she was being persecuted.

What is your response to the fact that so many writers in India have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards?

Writers have decided to protest against injustices by returning their awards. There is nothing wrong with it. Sometimes somebody gets an idea, others like it.

Do you agree with the government that this is a manufactured protest with a political agenda?

I do not think so. Writers are politically and socially conscious people.

Do you feel the writers were silent when you were targeted?

Most writers were silent when my book was banned in West Bengal, when 5 fatwas were issued against me in India, when I was thrown out of West Bengal, when I was kept under house arrest in Delhi for months and was forced to leave India, when my mega serial for TV was banned. I have been struggling alone for the right to live here and for my freedom of expression. Not only they were silent, famous writers like Sunil Ganguly and Shankha Ghosh appealed to Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the then CM of West Bengal, to ban my book.

Are writers guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent?

Yes, I agree. Many writers are guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent.

Is intolerance rising in India —Dadri lynching for example?

Yes, I am afraid so.

You recently tweeted that there's a problem with the way secularism has been practised in India ...

Yes. Most secular people are pro-Muslims and anti-Hindu. They protest against the acts of Hindu fundamentalists and defend the heinous acts of Muslim fundamentalists.

Should writers return awards when they want to protest?

Come on, they are grown-up people. They should return awards if they want to. We cannot advise them.

Do you feel the Indian PM should speak more empathetically when it comes to Muslims and violence against minorities in India?

Politicians appease Muslims for votes in India. Muslims get so much favour that angers many Hindus. It is true that sometimes Muslims get tortured only because they are Muslims. But it happens to other religious community too. In Canning, a Hindu village in West Bengal, was burnt down by Muslim fanatics in 2013. If Muslims were brutally persecuted in India, they would have left India for neighbouring Muslim countries like Hindu minorities have been leaving Bangladesh and Pakistan since Partition.

Indian writers guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent: Taslima Nasrin - The Times of India

The interview seems to have been cut short.

 

[FULL_METAL]

but she is not secular herself, how can she comment on the award wining Indian secular typewriters

 

[bongbang]

Indian writers guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent: Taslima Nasrin
TNN | Oct 17, 2015, 01.00 AM IST

File photo of Taslima Nasrin at her residece in Kolkata. (TOI photo: Sayantan Ghosh)

The number of writers who have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards is now almost 30. The government has called their protest a manufactured protest. Now noted Bangladeshi writer and exile Taslima Nasrin has also entered the fray. In an interview to TOI'sSagarika Ghose she asks why writers were silent when she was being persecuted.

What is your response to the fact that so many writers in India have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards?

Writers have decided to protest against injustices by returning their awards. There is nothing wrong with it. Sometimes somebody gets an idea, others like it.

Do you agree with the government that this is a manufactured protest with a political agenda?

I do not think so. Writers are politically and socially conscious people.

Do you feel the writers were silent when you were targeted?

Most writers were silent when my book was banned in West Bengal, when 5 fatwas were issued against me in India, when I was thrown out of West Bengal, when I was kept under house arrest in Delhi for months and was forced to leave India, when my mega serial for TV was banned. I have been struggling alone for the right to live here and for my freedom of expression. Not only they were silent, famous writers like Sunil Ganguly and Shankha Ghosh appealed to Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the then CM of West Bengal, to ban my book.

Are writers guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent?

Yes, I agree. Many writers are guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent.

Is intolerance rising in India —Dadri lynching for example?

Yes, I am afraid so.

You recently tweeted that there's a problem with the way secularism has been practised in India ...

Yes. Most secular people are pro-Muslims and anti-Hindu. They protest against the acts of Hindu fundamentalists and defend the heinous acts of Muslim fundamentalists.

Should writers return awards when they want to protest?

Come on, they are grown-up people. They should return awards if they want to. We cannot advise them.

Do you feel the Indian PM should speak more empathetically when it comes to Muslims and violence against minorities in India?

Politicians appease Muslims for votes in India. Muslims get so much favour that angers many Hindus. It is true that sometimes Muslims get tortured only because they are Muslims. But it happens to other religious community too. In Canning, a Hindu village in West Bengal, was burnt down by Muslim fanatics in 2013. If Muslims were brutally persecuted in India, they would have left India for neighbouring Muslim countries like Hindu minorities have been leaving Bangladesh and Pakistan since Partition.

Indian writers guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent: Taslima Nasrin - The Times of India

Bujlam apnar ban time over hoice. Already 3-4 times opened this same thread. You are late in the party.

 

[dray]

The interview seems to have been cut short.

To save a life....two more lines, and Sagarika Ghose would have killed herself.

but she is not secular herself, how can she comment on the award wining Indian secular typewriters

First, she is Taslima Nasrin, a MUSLIM.

Second, she is Taslima Nasrin, a famous WRITER (Hence, intellectual).

Third, she is Taslima Nasrin, a VICTIM of the ISLAMIC EXTREMISM.

This interview raises some uncomfortable questions in a blunt manner and puts certain people in an uncomfortable position...and they can't even retaliate to her.

 

[Guynextdoor2]

I think the right secularism should be to

a) Condemn and expose Bhakt and their moronic agenda
b) Condemn and expose radical Islamic elements for their moronic agenda.

That's what she is saying. Note Viraat Bhakt like @Rain Man and @Star Wars @SarthakGanguly

She did not say Bhakt are not morons etc.

 

[FULL_METAL]

\
First, she is Taslima Nasrin, a MUSLIM.

Second, she is Taslima Nasrin, a famous WRITER (Hence, intellectual).

Third, she is Taslima Nasrin, a VICTIM of the ISLAMIC EXTREMISM.

This interview raises some uncomfortable questions in a blunt manner and puts certain people in an uncomfortable position...and they can't even retaliate to her.

indeed dada, nothing can match the sensation when the hypocrites are being exposed

BTW happy Durgapujo dada amar pronam neben

 

[dray]

I think the right secularism should be to

a) Condemn and expose Bhakt and their moronic agenda
b) Condemn and expose radical Islamic elements for their moronic agenda.

That's what she is saying. Note Viraat Bhakt like @Rain Man and @Star Wars @SarthakGanguly

She did not say Bhakt are not morons etc.

If you haven't noticed yet, I am equally vocal against certain sadhus and sadhwis and their motor mouth compatriots. However, what mostly goes on in India in the name of secularism is another form of communalism.

You are late in the party.

Then we will start the party all over again.

indeed dada, nothing can match the sensation when the hypocrites are being exposed

BTW happy Durgapujo dada amar pronam neben

Last year's Durgapuja was a dampener...this year it is again in full swing!

Police couldn't manage the crowd in Deshopriyo Park's Durgapuja with 88 feet Maa Durga, and closed the puja pandal itself. I am yet to see that puja.

Feast your eyes on pictures of world's tallest Durga idol because Kolkata police may not let you visit it - IBNLive

 

[Sky lord]

I would love to know why our liberal intellectuals did not stand with Taslima Nasrin when she was being hounded out of house and home. What was the difference? And the answer " we did protest silently " will not work. They should have come on TV and protested in front of the nation.

 

[FULL_METAL]

Last year's Durgapuja was a dampener...this year it is again in full swing!

Police couldn't manage the crowd in Deshopriyo Park's Durgapuja with 88 feet Maa Durga, and closed the puja pandal itself. I am yet to see that puja.

Feast your eyes on pictures of world's tallest Durga idol because Kolkata police may not let you visit it - IBNLive

Ebare pujoi bari asa hochhe na dada due to work commitments , Xmas e try korbo, amader bangali khrishtan der ei dutoi porob , BTW sharodiar preety o shubhechha for the entire Rain family , bhalo thakben, May the force be with u dada

 

[SarthakGanguly]

I think the right secularism should be to

a) Condemn and expose Bhakt and their moronic agenda
b) Condemn and expose radical Islamic elements for their moronic agenda.

That's what she is saying. Note Viraat Bhakt like @Rain Man and @Star Wars @SarthakGanguly

She did not say Bhakt are not morons etc.

You will do the first and then forget the second. You are neither secular nor a Bhakt. You are a special type. One that @vsdoc knows how to take care of.

 

[dray]

I would love to know why our liberal intellectuals did not stand with Taslima Nasrin when she was being hounded out of house and home. What was the difference? And the answer " we did protest silently " will not work. They should have come on TV and protested in front of the nation.

Taslima Nasrin has already lost her home, and her country, and her second home in Kolkata, and now she might lose her "Intellectual" and "Writer" status after this interview!

Ebare pujoi bari asa hochhe na dada due to work commitments , Xmas e try korbo, amader bangali khrishtan der ei dutoi porob , BTW sharodiar preety o shubhechha for the the entire Rain family , bhalo thakben, May the force be with u dada

Thank you and same to you...!

 

[Sky lord]

Taslima Nasrin has already lost her home, and her country, and her second home in Kolkata, and now she might lose her "Intellectual" and "Writer" status after this interview!

In a country where Maya Rao is an intellectual, it's no loss not to be counted as one of them. But our " intellectuals" should tell the nation what happens to their balls when they are confronting Islamic extremism, surely ALL extremism is equally bad.

 

[Guynextdoor2]

If you haven't noticed yet, I am equally vocal against certain sadhus and sadhwis and their motor mouth compatriots. However, what mostly goes on in India in the name of secularism is another form of communalism.



Then we will start the party all over again.



Last year's Durgapuja was a dampener...this year it is again in full swing!

Police couldn't manage the crowd in Deshopriyo Park's Durgapuja with 88 feet Maa Durga, and closed the puja pandal itself. I am yet to see that puja.

Feast your eyes on pictures of world's tallest Durga idol because Kolkata police may not let you visit it - IBNLive

You being vocal about Sadhus and Sadhvis means what? You're a nobody and you don't count. Does Modi, the man who counts, say anything to them? Of course not! They've been on it for one and a half years and he just doesn't care. You know why? Coz they're part of the plan.

 

[vsdoc]

You will do the first and then forget the second. You are neither secular nor a Bhakt. You are a special type. One that @vsdoc knows how to take care of.

The reason is simple.

Diss the bhakt and you risk a whacking or a face full of ink at worst.

Diss the Islamist and you run the very real risk of body parts being separated from torso.

Sometimes hands. Sometimes tongues. Other times the head.

Being a motormouth suddenly loses attraction very precipitously then .....

Understandably so.